The three were accompanied by drummers with hands that moved into blurs on their tuned tablas, brass drums that look like miniature timpani.

The three sarods shot laser light colors from the silver fingerboards. The music itself became a mystical symphony, given an ethereal dimension by the resonating harmonic strings on the instrument adapted from an ancient Afghani lute by the Khans' ancestor.

It wasn't hard to see why music is inextricably bound up in Hindu religious rituals and expressions of belief, or why the Dalai Lama has pointed to Ali Khan as an ambassador for peace through the power of his music. The concert itself, hosted by the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama, ended with a prayer by Tagore, the Nobel-prize winning Indian poet and wise man.

In the attached photo gallery,Huntsville Times photographer Michael Mercier captures some of the interplay of concentration, respect and talent that wove the five musicians into an unforgettable performance.